Suzanne Vigil: Up Close & Too Personal

Leaving no blemish behind and including every stray hair, Suzanne Vigil layers colored pencil on acetate to create highly realistic, tightly focused, un-posed portraits. Vigil’s “Up Close & Too Personal, an exhibit of these incredibly detailed drawings, will be on view at The Art League Gallery, December 6, 2012 – January 7, 2013.

Vigil, fascinated by the human figure, hones in on the flaws that are only apparent when observed up close. Using features from multiple subjects, Vigil creates aggregate faces full of personality. By invading the subject’s personal space, Vigil draws attention to our own uncomfortable feelings of imperfection and offers a voyeuristic point of view.

In her “past life” as art director for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Vigil often worked with acetate, a translucent film used for overlays and design layouts. The combination of this transparency and the superior malleability of colored pencils allows Vigil to work on both sides of the acetate – resulting in rich color, fine textures, and detail so precise it’s nearly photographic.

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WETA History Timeline

Enjoy this step through time charting WETA's history from its founding in the 1950s as an educational television station, the addition of a public radio station, and evolution into a major national producer for PBS.